The next few years after the excellent 1968 season were less impressive, as the positions in the league changed in a dropping chain - 1-5-8-9-11, but in 1973 Starts was on the rise again with the rise of the star of Mihails Smorodins - a 21 year old local striker who scored 18 goals in 22 matches of the season, becoming the best goalscorer in the league and bringing Starts silver medals of the league and a Latvian Cup final (in which it lost to Pilots Rīga).